22 Islam and Democracy

Question 1

What are the only 2 countries which are democratic in ME/NA?

Answer 1

Israel and Tunisia are considered flawed democracies

Question 2

What are democratic movements?

Answer 2

Aspirational efforts by citizens to live in a more representative society.

Question 3

What is a democratic state?

Answer 3

A country with democratic instuitutions.

Question 4

What is the theory of “waves of democracy”?

Answer 4

When major countries shift power, new democracies emerge in smaller states.

Question 5

In the 20th century, when was the first wave?

Answer 5

End of World War i.

Question 6

What happened?

Answer 6

Ottoman, Russian and Austro-Hungary empires failed.
20 new nations emerged.

Question 7

When was the Second Wave?

Answer 7

After World War II

Question 8

What happened?

Answer 8

Italy and Germany became democratic again.
Other new democracies created

India and Pakistan

Question 9

When was the Third Wave

Answer 9

1970s - 1990s

Question 10

Where?

Answer 10

Spain, Greece, Latin America through USSR

Question 11

Has there been a Fourth Wave?

Answer 11

Maybe. Arab Spring 2011

Tunisia, Egypt, Lybia, Yemen, Syria and Bahrain

Question 12

What is usually overlooked in judging democratization?

Answer 12

Women’s suffrage

Question 13

what was the world like before the First Wave?

Answer 13

People were winning rights.

Question 14

What about the Arab world?

Answer 14

The Ottoman Sultan and Persian Shah ruled much of it.

Question 15

Why did that not create new democratic states?

Answer 15

It made Turkey a democracy

Question 16

What did the League of Nations do with the rest?

Answer 16

Gave Britain and France mandaates over them.

Question 17

What was Britain given?

Answer 17

Iraq, Jordan and Palestine

Question 18

What was France given?

Answer 18

Syria and Lebanon

Question 19

How did Britain and France treat the mandates?

Answer 19

As colonies

Question 20

In general, what is the difference between WWI and WW2 new states?

Answer 20

The new nations were carved out after WW1.
They did no become independent until after WW2

1950s and 1960s

Question 21

Were the newly independent states really independent?

Answer 21

Not really. The West colluded with monarchies/dictators because of oil.

Question 22

But what else was going on?

Answer 22

Freedom movements (liberalism) were emerging.

Question 23

What is the theory of Arab Exceptionalism?

Answer 23

That Arabs are different from other people because of Islam.

Question 24

Is this true?

Answer 24

No.
The 5 largest Muslim countries are somewhat democracies.

Indonesia, Pakiston, Nigeria, Bangledesh, India

Question 25

What are the only 2 states which claim to be Islamically governed?

Answer 25

Iran and Saudi Arabia